With a roaring blast, nine tower blocks disappeared.
Fengjie, a historic town in southwest China's Chongqing
Municipality, came to an end after more than 2,300 years.
The usually bustling streets are blocked by hills of debris. Only
the ancient city gates still stand, but their stones are numbered
in preparation for relocation to a new town eight kilometers
away.
It
will have the same style of old Fengjie, but with more modern
amenities.
Fengjie will be one of the first towns and counties to be submerged
in the water storage of the Three Gorges Project, currently under
construction on China's longest river, the Yangtze.
Statistics from the construction department of Fengjie County show
that the old town, covering 1.4 square km, had a population of
100,000, with a higher density than Shanghai, China's most populous
city.
The new town is composed of six districts, covering an area more
than twice the size of the old Fengjie town.
A
local driver surnamed Wei said his old home of more than ten years
had a floor space of about 60 square meters, but after relocation
he had a new apartment of 150 square meters.
The new town had better living conditions, with wider streets, more
grass and flowers and better air, said Wei.
Fengjie has been a major pass and transport hub since ancient
China. "The government will move the original form with two ancient
gates and Yong'an Palace, a historical site, to the new city," said
Liu Benrong, a leader of Fengjie County.
The excavated cultural relics would be exhibited in the new museum
and the streets and statues in the new town would reflect the
culture of the old town, said Liu.
(Xinhua News
Agency November 4, 2002)